Why Kenya should be wary of China Story by MAKAU MUTUA Publication Date: 7/01/2007 (Sunday Nation, Nairobi)
Recently, there has been a dizzying parade of high-level visitors between Africa and the People's Republic of China. Some Kenyan officials have suggested that the country should increasingly look East to diversify its economic relationships and reduce dependency on the West. Theoretically, this sounds like a plausible idea. That is until you give it serious thought. China, once upon a time the pivot of the oppressed Third World, has itself become a voracious and cruel imperial overlord. That is why Kenya and Africa must fundamentally recalculate their relationship with the rising Chinese leviathan. China still sings the song about Third World solidarity, but its political and economic actions and interests belie the song. This does not mean that Kenya should not engage China. Rather, it means that Kenya must guard its rear. In effect, we do not simply want to trade the imperial West with another crude exploiter. A smart foreign policy cannot ignore China. But neither can it gloss over China's ugly record in Africa nor hand it the key to our treasures on sweet but empty promises. We must insist on a relationship of equals. In terms of untapped resources, Africa is the last virgin frontier. The Chinese government has only belatedly realised this fact because of the energy needs of its high-octane economy. This explains the State visits by President Hu Jintao to African countries such as Kenya and South Africa that did not previously exist on the Chinese political map. With a population of 1.3 billion, the largest in the world, and in a race for global supremacy with the West, China wants every valuable resource they can lay their hands on. This second scramble for Africa is not very different from the one by the Europeans in the 19th century. It is about economic exploitation. Let's for a moment contemplate what has happened in China. The China of 2007 looks nothing like the communist state that Mao Tse Tung established in 1949. After his death in 1976, China steadily liberalised its economy and has become in reality a capitalist State ruled by a single party that is only communist by name. The Communist Party of China has instead devised a highly successful strategy for global domination driven by a strong military and State-directed capitalism. In the process, nothing is sacred - not the people, the environment, or human rights. I used to have a soft spot for the Chinese because they were one of the major checks on the unbridled global power of the West. At the United Nations and other institutions of global governance, China used to be a firm voice for the Third World. But in the late 1980s, China started to distance itself from Third World causes as its economy grew fast and its national interests shifted. As China's interests became increasingly imperial, it moved closer to the United States and away from the Third World. India is doing the same thing today. Nothing demonstrates the callousness of Chinese policy towards Africa than its support for the Sudanese government in spite of the genocide in Darfur. Even with the killings of 500,000 black African Darfurians by the Arab Janjaweed militias and Sudanese government forces, China does not even have the moral courage to call that genocide. It has threatened to block and veto a robust United Nations force to stop the carnage. Beijing is now the protector of Khartoum at most international forums. President Jintao believes that the West cannot afford to push him very far on Sudan because of China's presumed economic leverage on Washington. Let's be clear about one thing. Beijing is not shielding Khartoum because of some new found love for President Omar Bashir and Sudanese Arabs. China's interest in Sudan resides in three letters: oil. The Chinese economy is burning fossil fuels at a rate that is unprecedented in human history. China also knows that Khartoum desperately needs friends because the genocide has made it a pariah. The two regimes have a perfect meeting of interests. In return, the Sudanese have given Chinese oil companies wide latitude to exploit oil and other natural resources. It is the revenue from the oil industry that buys the weapons to commit genocide in Darfur. It is urgent that the United Nations forces a vote on comprehensive sanctions on Sudan unless it allows an effective UN force to enter Darfur to stop the genocide. The UN should dare China to veto such a resolution. It is here that leading African States - such as Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria - can have real impact. We know that China is seriously courting these three States as its gateway to Africa's vast resources. As a condition for any deals, these States must insist that China ends its support for Khartoum and backs the UN force. The Chinese are not stupid. If three key African States raise their voices, it may be forced to do the right thing. But African States and athletes must pinch China where it hurts the most. In 2008, China will be hosting the Olympics, an event that it believes will confer on it the global status it craves. The Olympics would be a spectacular flop without African athletes. This is incredible leverage that must be used to force China to lean on Khartoum to end the genocide. Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo and Chair of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. _______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
